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NPR - When Women Stopped Coding
by Nathan Ensmenger 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

> > On Dec 14, 2015, at 4:08 PM, Dag Spicer <dspicer(a)computerhistory.org> wrote: > > Interesting piece… would be interesting in people’s thoughts… > > http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/17/356944145/episode-576-when-wom… I have been thinking about the 1984 decline in CS enrollments among women a fair bit lately. I have a piece in the recently published volume of *Osiris* on “Scientific Masculinities” that provides my take on what happened. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/682955?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents The short version is that although the 1980s PC culture is significant, what is really important is the late 1970s and the emergence of the “computer bum” culture in academic computing centers in places like MIT and Stanford. It is in these almost exclusively male domains (which differed considerably in their gender composition from their corporate counterparts) that many of the cultural practices that later will be associated with “hacker” culture are constructed and disseminated. The media picks up on the “computer hacker” in about 1982, and it is this set of narratives about who does (and does not) “belong” in computer that influence enrollments in academic computer science programs. The "PC is a boy’s toy" interpretation has some validity, but 1984 seems a little early for that effect to be significant, and I have found the PC ads from the early years (say 1977-1983) to be surprisingly gender inclusive. That being said, by the end of the 1980s the hacker/nerd as white, adolescent male is firmly established, and no doubt strongly discouraging to women. But I think the causal chain implied the NPR piece is not quite right. -Nathan --- Nathan Ensmenger Associate Professor of Informatics School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University, Bloomington homes.soic.indiana.edu/nensmeng/

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CFP SHOT2016: "Game History and the Local"
by Melanie Swalwell 16 Dec '15

16 Dec '15

Hi SIGCIS, I am keen to hear from people interested in being involved in a traditional session on "Game History and the Local" at SHOT2016 - see draft blurb below. I'm delighted that Corinna Schlombs has agreed to act as a respondent, which should bring computer history and game history into conjunction in some interesting ways. Please be in touch if you would like to discuss ideas. Regards, Melanie Game history did not unfold uniformly and the particularities of space and place matter. Yet many digital game and software histories are silent with respect to geography. The orthodoxy that the U.S. and Japan - and to a lesser extent the U.K. - constituted the 'centres' at the outset of the industry has enjoyed such legitimacy that many accounts do not even bother to mention the 'where' that their material or statistics pertain to (eg. Campbell-Kelly). In many ways this parallels the North American default perspective in computer history, critiqued by Schlombs (2006). That many histories have been written by journalists and 'insiders' - comprising what Huhtamo calls the "chronicle era" of game history - largely accepting the game industry's 'global' rhetoric has no doubt also contributed to this situation. However, it means that locality has largely been left out of game history, at least until recently (Saarikoski et al and Kirkpatrick constitute exceptions). Given the great historic diversity of games and contexts for their play, an appreciation of socio-cultural and geographic specificity is important to develop, particularly if other histories are to be told, for instance, from the 'periphery' rather than the 'centre'. There is a burgeoning interest in discussing locality with respect to game history, as evidenced by the Localgamehist listserv, which has 99 members (co-founded by the session proposer). Whilst this degree of interest is welcome, the local needs to be critically-situated if it is not to simply become a new orthodoxy, celebrated for its own sake. This panel seeks contributions from scholars who are interested in reflecting on locality and geography in relation to Game History. Papers might engage with the shape and detail of local game histories, present comparative snapshots of game history/technologies/industries/practices across diverse locales, or reflect on production, distribution, consumption, magazines, cultural memory, etc with a local underpinning. Many approaches are possible and these suggestions are not intended to be definitive, but the panel might work best if each paper incorporates some reflection on the critical potential of such historical work. Where are the audiences for locally focused scholarship? Do such approaches have explanatory power beyond the local, or will they forever remain on the margins? What does such work have to contribute and how might it encourage a maturation of historical work around games? Please send a one page abstract (max 500 words) and a one page short CV with current contact information (max 300 words) to Melanie Swalwell melanie.swalwell(a)flinders.edu.au by 27th December. -- Assoc. Prof. Melanie Swalwell ARC Future Fellow Screen and Media, Flinders University GPO Box 2100 Adelaide SA 5001 Ph: +61 8 8201 2619 278 Humanities Bldg www.flinders.edu.au<http://www.flinders.edu.au/> http://www.flinders.edu.au/people/melanie.swalwell Researching Creative Micro-computing in Australia: https://youtu.be/hR8-10qjoiI Popular Memory Archive: http://playitagainproject.org<http://www.playitagainproject.org/> Play It Again blog: http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/play-it-again/ Digital Heritage blog: http://blog.ourdigitalheritage.org<http://blog.ourdigitalheritage.org/> CRICOS Provider: 00114A This email and any attachments may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please inform the sender by reply email and delete all copies of this message.

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NPR - When Women Stopped Coding
by Dag Spicer 15 Dec '15

15 Dec '15

Interesting piece… would be interesting in people’s thoughts… http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/17/356944145/episode-576-when-wom… Dag

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] NPR - When Women Stopped Coding
by Nathan Ensmenger 14 Dec '15

14 Dec '15

> On Dec 14, 2015, at 4:08 PM, Dag Spicer <dspicer(a)computerhistory.org> wrote: > > Interesting piece… would be interesting in people’s thoughts… > > http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/10/17/356944145/episode-576-when-wom… I have been thinking about the 1984 decline in CS enrollments among women a fair bit lately. I have a piece in the recently published volume of *Osiris* on “Scientific Masculinities” that provides my take on what happened. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/682955?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents The short version is that although the 1980s PC culture is significant, what is really important is the late 1970s and the emergence of the “computer bum” culture in academic computing centers in places like MIT and Stanford. It is in these almost exclusively male domains (which differed considerably in their gender composition from their corporate counterparts) that many of the cultural practices that later will be associated with “hacker” culture are constructed and disseminated. The media picks up on the “computer hacker” in about 1982, and it is this set of narratives about who does (and does not) “belong” in computer that influence enrollments in academic computer science programs. The "PC is a boy’s toy" interpretation has some validity, but 1984 seems a little early for that effect to be significant, and I have found the PC ads from the early years (say 1977-1983) to be surprisingly gender inclusive. That being said, by the end of the 1980s the hacker/nerd as white, adolescent male is firmly established, and no doubt strongly discouraging to women. But I think the causal chain implied the NPR piece is not quite right. -Nathan --- Nathan Ensmenger Associate Professor of Informatics School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University, Bloomington homes.soic.indiana.edu/nensmeng/

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ACM History Committee --> oral history workshop 12-13 May 2016
by Thomas J. Misa 13 Dec '15

13 Dec '15

Hello all, Please let colleagues you may know who are contemplating oral-history projects know about this ACM sponsored oral history workshop. Deadline for application is 15 January. Thanks, Tom Misa ACM Workshop on Oral History, May 12-13, 2016 ACM History Committee Call for Participation The Association for Computing Machinery, founded in 1947, is the oldest and largest educational and scientific society dedicated to the computing profession, and today has more than 100,000 members around the world. The ACM History Committee is sponsoring an oral history workshop to help diffuse knowledge of professional oral history practices into ACM’s membership and others with an active interest in preserving our computing heritage through the medium of oral histories. Applications are invited to a 1.5 day oral history workshop, to be held Thursday and Friday, May 12-13, 2016 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For each successful application, one person’s expenses for workshop travel, lodging, and meals will be paid by the ACM History Committee. The workshop will be led by Mary Marshall Clark, director of the Columbia Center for Oral History (CCOH), see <http://library.columbia.edu/locations/ccoh.html>. Practice and Tutorial Who should attend? ACM members and others who are planning or actually doing oral history projects. The audience is people who are performing interviews for oral histories, or thinking about doing so. The workshop should be of special interest to ACM officers and staff, SIG leaders, historically minded ACM members, and others working on oral history projects. Priority will be given to ACM members and members of other national computer societies affiliated with the ACM, but some places have been reserved for non-affiliated individuals who are actively engaged in oral history projects. Workshop topics and activities include: [a] developing an oral history program; [b] presentation and training on oral history processes and principles; [c] hands-on exercises interviewing each other; [d] analysis and discussion of the exercises; [e] how to analyze results, findings and evaluate an oral history project; [f] practical considerations: lessons learned and best practices; and [g] ample networking time, including lunches and the workshop dinner. Participants will leave with a “tool kit” of practical, useful procedures as well as insight into professional oral history practices. Small workshop format will permit maximum hands-on experience and personal interaction. We are planning for 16 participants. The ACM History Committee will fund travel, hotel and meals for accepted invitees. Applicants should send a 2-page CV as well as a 250-word proposed project and/or oral history interest description that [a] explains the significance of a proposed oral history project (if applicable), potential uses of the techniques learned, and its importance; and [b] affirms your willingness to participate fully in the 1.5 day agenda. Project proposals are due by Friday, January 15, 2016. Proposals should be submitted as a single pdf-format document to <history-webmaster(a)acm.org>. Notification of project acceptance will be made within eight weeks. (Questions about the workshop or requests for clarification may be directed, at any time, to <history-webmaster(a)acm.org>.) ===============================================

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Ada Lovelace @ 200
by Andrew Russell 10 Dec '15

10 Dec '15

Dear colleagues - To mark 200 years since Ada Lovelace’s birth, we have published a new book with ACM Press/Morgan & Claypool titled “Ada’s Legacy: Cultures of Computing from the Victorian to the Digital Age”. The book is edited by me and my colleague at Stevens, Robin Hammerman, and features chapters by scholars from disciplines such history (including CBI's Tom Misa), literature, art, Internet studies, and more. Misa’s chapter might be of particular interest for those who think that the claim that Ada was the “world’s first programmer” deserves some scrutiny, context, and a more nuanced interpretation of Ada’s accomplishments. Here is the blurb: Ada's Legacy illustrates the depth and diversity of writers, thinkers, and makers who have been inspired by Ada Lovelace, the English mathematician and writer. The volume, which commemorates the bicentennial of Ada's birth in December 1815, celebrates Lovelace's many achievements as well as the impact of her life and work, which reverberated widely since the late nineteenth century. In the 21st century we have seen a resurgence in Lovelace scholarship, thanks to the growth of interdisciplinary thinking and the expanding influence of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Ada's Legacy is a unique contribution to this scholarship, thanks to its combination of papers on Ada's collaboration with Charles Babbage, Ada's position in the Victorian and Steampunk literary genres, Ada's representation in and inspiration of contemporary art and comics, and Ada's continued relevance in discussions around gender and technology in the digital age. With the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth on December 10, 2015, we believe that the timing is perfect to publish this collection of papers. Because of its broad focus on subjects that reach far beyond the life and work of Ada herself, Ada's Legacy will appeal to readers who are curious about Ada's enduring importance in computing and the wider world. Here is the url to order the book from M&C: http://www.morganclaypoolpublishers.com/catalog_Orig/product_info.php?produ… Here are some sample pages (front matter and intro): http://arussell.org/papers/Ada.pdf Finally, if you happen to find yourself in Oxford today (right now!) at the Lovelace Symposium, please find Robin Hammerman to get a copy of the book and an Ada t-shirt :) Happy birthday Ada!! Cheers, Andy (from Hoboken) and Robin (from Oxford)

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CFP: Information Technology and the Environment
by Ensmenger, Nathan 09 Dec '15

09 Dec '15

Rebecca Slayton and I are co-editing a special issue of Information & Culture on information technology and the environment. Here is the call for papers. Please do pass it along to colleagues, students, and anyone else you think it doing relevant research! -Nathan ======== Call for Papers: Information Technology and the Environment Information technology has long played an important role in structuring relationships between humans and their environment. In recent decades, digital information and communications technologies have been heralded as the key to cutting carbon emissions through “smart” electric power grids, improved supply chain management, and other cybernetic visions. Computerized models and sensors have shaped and transformed ways of representing and intervening in the natural world, from efforts to study and manage localized eco-systems, to global climate modeling and proposals for geoengineering. While many environmentalists view computing as a key to protecting the natural environment, others have underscored the environmental damage done through global practices of mining, production, and waste disposal in the computing industry. This special issue aims to deepen understanding of the historically contingent and changing ways that information technology medicates between social and natural worlds. We invite submissions of papers that address the role of information and communications technologies in structuring human and social experience of the environment in any historical period, including the contemporary one. Information and communications technologies are broadly defined and may include non-digital and non-electronic systems. We are particularly interested in papers responding to the following questions: 1) Has the digital turn in environmental studies transformed conceptions of local and global environment, and if so how? 2) How should we weigh environmentally-friendly uses of ICT against the significant levels of natural exploitation and waste by the global ICT industry? 3) How has the late modern environmental movement influenced the production and use of information technology? Target dates To propose a paper for inclusion in the special issue, please submit a short abstract (500 words or less) to rs849(a)cornell.edu by January 7, 2016. Full papers will be peer-reviewed by at least two external reviewers, and will be due for review by April 30, 2016. Authors may be invited to present their research at a workshop in the summer of 2016. Final papers that are accepted for publication will be due for copyediting by December 1 2016. Rebecca Slayton Assistant Professor, Cornell University Department of Science & Technology Studies Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Uris 130C, Ithaca, NY 14853 Nathan Ensmenger Associate Professor of Informatics School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University, Bloomington homes.soic.indiana.edu/nensmeng/

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CHM Fellows Award - Nomations now open year-round
by Dag Spicer 09 Dec '15

09 Dec '15

Dear Friends, In response to various requests over the years to open up the nomination process into a full year acitivty, as of today and going forward, CHM will now accept Fellows nominations year-round. For more information, please see here: http://www.computerhistory.org/fellowawards/nominations/ The deadline for 2017 Fellows is August 31, 2015. Thank you, Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043-1311 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 Fax: +1 650 810 1055

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Fwd: Singapore Meeting Travel Funds Survey
by Andrew Russell 09 Dec '15

09 Dec '15

Dear SIGCIS members (especially grad students and early career scholars) - Please see below, from SHOT Treasurer Ross Bassett. Cheers, Andy Begin forwarded message: From: Society for the History of Technology <shotsec(a)auburn.edu<mailto:shotsec@auburn.edu>> Date: December 7, 2015 at 9:10:25 AM EST To: andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu<mailto:andrew.russell@stevens.edu> Subject: Singapore Meeting Travel Funds Survey Society for the History of Technology 7 December 2015 SHOT has been putting a lot of energy into the Singapore meeting and we especially want to encourage participation by graduate students and young scholars. We are trying to determine the right amounts to allocate to grantees so that as many people as possible can attend. If you are a grad student or a scholar within 5 years of your doctorate, we would appreciate if you would take the following survey. This survey doesn't commit you to attend the Singapore meeting (although we hope you will), nor does it guarantee a certain level of grant, but it will be a great help to SHOT. Thanks for taking this survey! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R7T23NV -Ross Bassett, SHOT Treasurer Forward this email<http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=ieifeldab&m=1103106318472&ea=…> [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/SafeUnsubscribe_Footer_Logo_N…]<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…> This email was sent to andrew.russell(a)stevens.edu<mailto:andrew.russell@stevens.edu> by shotsec(a)auburn.edu<mailto:shotsec@auburn.edu> | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/do?p=un&m=001Xz26gWD0CDOi01mES8w44A%3D%3…>™ | About our service provider<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001poc9Qk6eFR54oQJ2cc5gvxlw2YdKLTeregtzi1R-IZAG…>. [http://img.constantcontact.com/letters/images/CC_Footer_Logo_New.png]<http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?cc=TEM_BusLet_003> Society for the History of Technology | David Lucsko | Department of History | 310 Thach Hall | Auburn University | AL | 36849-5207

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Grand Central
by Joly MacFie 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

http://www.jamesmaherphotography.com/photoblog_view_post/1416-what-lies-und… "The 102 year old computer system, built by Westinghouse and considered to be the first electric computer. " -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast -------------------------------------------------------------- -

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